U.S.-Mexico trade deal promising
<span>The new trade agreement between the United States and Mexico announced Monday by President Trump and President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, looks promising with improvements on the old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).</span>
<span>“America has … finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our Nation’s wealth,” Trump said.</span>
<span>Peña Nieto congratulated President Trump and getting the deal made and said he hoped that Canada would also join in the agreement.</span>
<span>The new agreement is a bi-lateral agreement between the U.S. and Mexico designed to be more reflective of today’s economic needs, and changes occurring in the 21st Century. The highlights, according to the administration, are:</span>
<span>• New “rules of origin” requirements to incentivize billions of dollars a year in vehicle and automobile parts production in the United States, supporting high-wage jobs.</span>
<span>• The strongest, fully enforceable labor standards of any trade agreement.</span>
<span>• New commitments to reduce trade-distorting polices for agricultural goods.</span>
<span>• Improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.</span>
<span>• Strong and effective intellectual property protections.</span>
<span>• The strongest disciplines on digital trade of any international agreement.</span>
<span>• The most robust transparency obligations of any United States trade agreement.</span>
<span>Larry Kudlow, presidential economic adviser, said Tuesday on Fox News’ Fox and Friends program, “It keeps the integrated supply chain going in North America. That is huge for business confidence. It opens up a lot of markets. It protects intellectual property. It actually extends some patents and copyrights for new drugs. All this is very helpful.”</span>
<span>Wall Street’s reaction Monday was also positive, setting a new record high for the stock market when it crossed the 26,000 mark.</span>
<span>Hopefully Congress will also give the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement quick approval, and Canada will not be far behind to reaching a deal as well.</span>